Gandhi, Wajira & Our Poverty

By Ravi Perera –OCTOBER 21, 2021

Ravi Perera

“There are two ways of being a politician. The first is to bring to politics all one’s ideas, energies and even possessions, to enrich it, and yet in the midst of it keep one’s own intellectual and inner preoccupations, so that the management of public affairs may be ennobled by them.

The second, is the exact opposite. It consists of taking from politics, all one’s ideas, along with power and other resources.

This is living off politics.”- Paul Valery

“If Gandhi had not intervened, India, which has taught the world its most important lesson, would be nothing but a country in revolt” – Andre Malraux

The present day United National Party (UNP) may lack many things, most importantly for a political party, a popular following; its abysmal failure was displayed so starkly at the last general elections, when the old warhorse failed to win a single seat in parliament. This was not the case in the past, even when it could not form the government at the elections, the UNP generally commanded the confidence of a very large number of voters, sometimes even more than the governing party. In order to defeat the UNP, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, its historical rival, had to invariably resort to coalition tactics with left parties such as the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party. However, as a single political party, contesting more seats, the UNP would usually garner the highest number of votes.

A famed CEO of an American behemoth once advised his investors not to assume the continuity of the company leadership. Under his redoubtable leadership, the company had flourished globally, becoming a much admired fortune 500 company. He was equal to the challenge of their competitors; was a visionary, dynamic, popular and much respected for his integrity. That would not however be a permanent state he cautioned. On a future day, the company may well end up with a leadership lacking in some, or even all the attributes he was admired for. In such a case, the basis of their investment ceases to be, they must therefore be alert to any shifts in the company profile, particularly its moral strength.

Clearly, the stakeholders of the UNP have not been vigilant. Confused, even mystified, they waited while in the larger society their party steadily descended into irrelevance. True, every institution rises and falls in time, that is the nature of the world. In the case of the UNP, the drop was devastatingly rapid, one day the party was in power, the next, it had lost every seat in parliament.

But where the UNP is concerned, it seems not all is lost. Politically it may have hit a wall, but other, latent talents, are emerging, particularly in the literary field. I refer particularly to the recent newspaper article “Mahatma Gandhi – the great son of India” by Wajira Abeywardena, a provincial politician, now made the Chairman of the UNP.

Read More